A lot of folks rely on they. The mighty they seem to know everything about everything but manage to remain nameless. They say you should pee on a jellyfish sting to stop the pain and reduce swelling. They say that latinos tend to vote Democrat, but Adam Lambert lost Idol ‘cuz the Midwest found him too flamboyant.
In marketing, they is a powerful force. Not only do they shape public opinion, they are public opinion. Unfortunately they cannot be scientifically quantified. Or can they?
I’m a huge fan of any (online) marketing application that allows me to collect statistical information to confirm what they are up to. As an example, Facebook fan pages have “insights” which tell you virtually anything you’d like to know. Insights provide access to where your fans are, how chatty they are, demographic trends, and all the things that make a marketing guy’s heart go pitter pat. S’wonderful, s’marvelous, etc. etc. etc ….
Unfortunately, in the wide world of music, statistics only matter sometimes. While you (should) report album sales to Soundscan, opinion on your music is a wholly different matter. Ask an artist why his music isn’t selling, and he’s got a million reasons. Can he back any of ’em up with solid statistical information? Probably not.
Ask another artist if her shows are selling, and see what she says. Unless she’s selling out every night, it’s usually “a bad time ‘cuz of the economy,” or “I’ve oversaturated the market.” But again, can you back this info up with any real, solid, credible statistics? To paraphrase the former Dean (he of the Home Furniture chain), I doubt it.
Marketers are an essential piece of the musical pie. While we know what we like and don’t like, we can’t rely simply on instinct to guide us. Doing so, belittles the process. We crunch the numbers and come up with valid answers to multiple hypotheses. While we may not make you money (we’re not salesmen!), we can steer you from making the costly mistakes which lead to musicians making the previous statements.
Because really, how many musicians would actually say, “No one buys my music ‘cuz it sucks?”
